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Goldman Sachs urges not to invest in bitcoin

Goldman Sachs analysts believe that investment in digital assets cannot be called “viable”, but cryptocurrencies are suitable for speculation in the market. The investment bank is confident that despite the increasing interest of people in digital currencies, investing in them is still risky. Analysts at Goldman Sachs noted that serious fluctuations in the crypto market scare off potential investors. And the conflicting opinions of industry participants about cryptocurrencies simply confuse many Goldman Sachs clients interested in acquiring such assets. “As Bitcoin soared to new highs over the past year, many wondered if they should invest in it. Now, a team at Goldman Sachs is telling retail investors that the digital currency isn’t worthy of most portfolios — at least not yet, ”the analysts of the investment bank are sure.

Beijing residents will be able to exchange cash for digital yuan at more than 3,000 ATMs

The Metropolitan Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has added the function of converting the yuan to and from the digital version. This opportunity can now be used in more than 3,000 ATMs. In addition, the Agricultural Bank of China has added a similar option. So far, it is available only on 10 devices located in Beijing. The initiative of the capital branches of banks indicates that the development and testing of the digital yuan is underway. Earlier, several Chinese cities tested the state cryptocurrency, when citizens received digital yuan to make purchases.

Miner spoke about the "solvency" of bitcoin

Restrictive measures in relation to the production of the main cryptocurrency should be taken positively, as they confirm the "solvency" of bitcoin. This was stated by the miner Brandon Arvanagi, who previously worked as a security engineer for Gemini. Arvanagi believes that now the authorities of various states are forming a consensus on BTC. And the tightening of the Chinese government's policy on mining and digital currency trading could prove to be a positive factor in the medium to long term. Former security engineer Gemini said that the role of the People’s Republic of China will be transferred to the United States, where the mining of cryptocurrencies is capable of becoming a large industry. He believes that Texas and Florida can offer favorable terms for miners. A similar opinion is shared by the head of Facebook Financial, David Marcus, who, commenting on news from China, said that this is "a great development in the history of bitcoin."

ARK Investment Management invested in BTC, after which the crypto coin began to grow

ARK Investment Management invested in the first cryptocurrency. This became known on June 22, when the BTC price dropped to $28,800. The investment company has acquired over a million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. We would like to remind the readers that on June 22, the value of the main crypto coin for the first time since January 2021 fell below $30,000. The market capitalization of BTC, according to CoinGecko, fell to $554 billion. However, after the news of the ARK Investment investment, bitcoin rose by more than 11%. Today, June 23, according to Coinmarketcap, the cost of BTC is $34'921.

SEC accuses Loci crypto project of fraud

The SEC has accused the head of the Loci crypto project, John Wise, of illegally selling digital assets and defrauding investors. According to the regulator, the startup and its top management raised $7.6 million thanks to the illegal sale of LOCICoin tokens. The SEC believes that Wise spent about $38,000 of the investment received for personal needs. “Loci and its CEO misled investors regarding critical aspects of Loci’s business. Investors in digital asset securities are entitled to truthful information and fulsome disclosures so they can make informed investment decisions,” Kristina Littman, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber Unit, said. As a result, the crypto project destroyed all LOCICoins and will not participate in similar token sales in the future. In addition, the company will have to return $7.6 million to investors.

The Fed is concerned about the growing popularity of stablecoins amid the lack of regulation of this market

Boston Federal Reserve Bank Governor Eric Rosengren has raised concerns about the risks associated with Tether to the soundness of the financial market. According to the official, USDT has become a "new problem" in the short-term lending markets. “The reason I talked about tether and stable coins is if you look at their portfolio, it basically looks like a portfolio of a prime money market fund but maybe riskier. We actually had a stablecoin that ran into financial difficulties last week. Tether, as you highlighted, has a number of assets that, during the pandemic, the spread got quite wide on those assets,” Eric Rosengren said. He noted that stablecoins are already playing a significant role in the modern economy. However, the absence of a significant degree of regulation of this industry can be dangerous for all players in the financial market.

British regulator has decided to complicate the work of Binance

The British Financial Conduct Authority issued a warning to top managers at Binance, which states that the crypto exchange is not allowed to conduct regulated activities in the country. Because of this, the local division of the company got in a deplorable situation. The FCA ruling states that Binance cannot carry out any activity requiring licensing without the consent of the regulator. Since the company goes through the registration procedure in the authority, it has no right to provide unregulated services, for example, the ability to conduct transactions in the derivatives market. In addition, the management demanded that the company stop advertising campaigns launched earlier in the country in the coming days. Until June 30, the crypto exchange is obliged to warn its customers about the FCA restrictions on the site.

Mexican entrepreneur announces approval of major crypto coin

Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego said that the Banco Azteca he created will become the first bank in the country to accept BTC. The entrepreneur wrote about this on Twitter. “Sure, I recommend the use of bitcoin, and me and my bank are working to be the first bank in Mexico to accept bitcoin,” Salinas said. According to the businessman, bitcoin is "an asset that should be part of every investor's portfolio." Salinas noted the value of BTC, "which is traded with huge liquidity on a global level."

US Senator approves bitcoin usage

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis said she invested in a major cryptocurrency to secure future retirement. In addition, she encourages to follow her example. According to Lummis, BTC is great for long-term and retirement savings. She noted that she now owns 5 bitcoins, at the same time she purchased the first BTC at a cost of $330. “I worry about having all of our retirement monies denominated in U.S. dollars. So as part of diversification, having a very diverse asset allocation, so you don’t have all your eggs in one basket, I think one of the strongest stores of value for the long run is bitcoin, ”said Lummis.

Europe should prioritize digital asset regulation

The head of the Central Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau is confident that the EU must make the regulation of digital currencies a priority. Otherwise, it will threaten the financial sovereignty of Europe. François Villeroy de Galhau said the EU "only has one or two years" to create a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market. In his opinion, inaction could "undermine our monetary sovereignty" and potentially weaken the euro. “I want to stress the urgency of regulating cryptoassets. We do not have much time left – just one or two years,” Villeroy de Galhau said.

Messari analysts are confident in the superiority of the USDC in the near future

Analysts at Messari concluded that USDC's popularity on ETH has grown much faster this year than Tether's. Experts believe that USDC has every chance of becoming the dominant stablecoin on ETH. The study found that interest in USD Coin increased so much that stablecoin was able to absorb a significant portion of USDT's market share. Messari believes that in the short term, this may contribute to a decrease in the share of Tether among stablecoins on ETH. Messari analyst Ryan Watkins noted that more than 40% of the stablecoins on ETH are in USDC. “Although this percentage is not as high as DAI, USDC leads by a wide margin in dollar terms and has become the preferred stablecoin in DeFi for now,” the analyst concluded.

Analyst predicts bitcoin recovery

Well-known cryptanalyst Willie Woo said that the market has not yet become "bearish". He believes that in the near future the rate of the main cryptocurrency will recover, as evidenced by the data of the blockchain performance indicators. Woo pointed out that long-term investors are now busy accumulating assets in BTC. They buy off bitcoins against the backdrop of a fall in the rate of a crypto coin. “The ‘Rick Astley’ is the holder that keeps buying and never tends to sell much ... And of course Rick was very active over 2021, and then suddenly all the coins moved away from Rick to the weak hands — the speculative traders that buy and sell. Now we’re seeing that cross back into moving to Rick," Willie Woo said, hinting at the hit of the singer Rick Astley "Never Let You Down".

Binance is looking to hire ‘UK Version of Brian Brooks’

Binance is attempting to hire a former regulator or government official in the U.K. in order to lend the brand some compliance clout as global regulatory pressure mounts on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange operator, according to two people familiar with the plans. Binance is looking to hire “a U.K. version of Brian Brooks,” one of the people told CoinDesk, referring to the well-regarded former head of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) who was brought in to run Binance.US in April of this year. The search for a respected former regulator to represent Binance’s interests in the U.K. follows an announcement last month by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which said that Binance was not allowed to conduct any regulated activities in the country. As a result of the FCA’s action, British bank Barclays said earlier this week it was blocking customers from using its debit and credit cards to make payments to Binance.

Bitcoin miner revenue jumps by 50% in 4 days since record difficulty drop

Bitcoin miner revenue jumped after the network saw its biggest-ever difficulty drop. According to figures from monitoring resource Blockchain.com, daily revenues have surged by over 50%. Bitcoin mining is currently in a unique state of flux — around half of the hashing power is offline as miners relocate from China, and it remains unknown how quickly they will be able to come back online. At the same time, those miners unaffected by the Chinese rout have seen half their competitors disappear overnight, and profitability has gone up as a result. With data now coming in for the past few weeks, the scale of the changes is plain to see. Daily mining revenue was around $20.7 million on Friday, the day before the difficulty adjustment. A day later, it hit $29.3 million, and by Tuesday this week — $31.9 million.

Guardtime: regulators from various countries have significantly accelerated the development of their own cryptocurrencies

According to Guardtime, which works in the blockchain field, central banks from various countries have significantly accelerated the development of their own cryptocurrencies amid the pandemic. Experts believe that in the near future, at least one country will issue its digital currency. According to Luukas Ilves, head of strategy at Guardtime, "competition for the launch of state-owned cryptocurrencies is increasing, and the coronavirus has not only accelerated digitalization, but also changed the use of money by the population." Lockdown has sparked the growth of the online payments market, which is where CBDCs are most applicable. “The development of CBDCs has been accelerated by up to five years. There is also no doubt in our mind that a major central bank will soon launch a digital currency and we expect this to happen within the next three years, ” Guardtime analysts said.

The Bogdanov brothers announced that they had participated in the development of the first crypto coin

Former Russian-born theoretical physicists and TV presenters Igor and Grigory Bogdanov stated that they were personally acquainted with Satoshi Nakamoto. In addition, they claim to have been involved in the development of the first cryptocurrency. The Bogdanovs noted that they once collaborated with François Mizzi, who created the touchscreen. The scientist Soichiro Shimod worked in his laboratory, who is "related to a mythical character or group of people" associated with Nakamoto. According to the brothers, they often discussed the concept of digital currency with Shimod. The Bogdanovs also noted that in 2008 Nakamoto gave them two "first bitcoins in physical form." “As mathematicians, we were able to take part in the development of the Bitcoin source code, including the forecasting code,” the Bogdanovs said on the air of the French TV show Non-Stop People.

Bitcoin may fall to $10,000

Scott Minerd, investment director of Guggenheim Partners, believes that the BTC rate may fall to $ 10.000. He is confident that for now, traders do not need to buy bitcoins. “When we look at the history of crypto and we look at where we are, I mean, I really do believe this is probably a crash, and you know a crash would mean we’d be down 70-80% which, let’s just say that’s between 10 and 15 thousand," Minerd said. At the end of last year, Guggenheim Partners predicted a rise in the price of the first crypto coin to $400,000. And in early 2021, Scott Minerd confirmed the prediction but advised investors to fix some of the profits.

FTX BTC exchange may buy the biggest BTC beneficiaries

The CEO of the FTX crypto exchange announced that he could buy the American giants of the conservative financial market as soon as he overtakes competitors like Coinbase and Binance. The head of the Bankman-Freed platform said this in his last interview. “If we are the largest exchange, [the purchase of Goldman Sachs and CME Group] is not ruled out at all,” he said. Earlier, FTX reported about raising about $1 billion. It was expected that with these investments, the project's estimate would rise to $20 billion.

Glassnode: "BTC rate stabilization is the calm before the storm"

The price of the main cryptocurrency has been in the range between $30,000 and $35,000 for several weeks now. Glassnode experts have announced the reasons that can push the price of BTC up. Analysts believe that after the movement of miners from the China abroad, the hashrate of the BTC network began to recover. After the recent peak hashrate decline of 55% from the maximum, this figure has grown by 39%. Analysts believe that the overall market sentiment may depend on the rate of recovery of the computing power of the BTC network. It will take the pressure off the sellers of mining equipment.

ECB approves transition to research stage of digital euro

The initiative became relevant about two years ago. And at the end of 2020, the ECB published a report on this topic. In November, its chairman, Christine Lagarde, said that the digital euro could appear in four years. “It has been nine months since we published our report on a digital euro. In that time, we have carried out further analysis, sought input from citizens and professionals, and conducted some experiments, with encouraging results. All of this has led us to decide to move up a gear and start the digital euro project,” Lagarde said. The regulator believes that the digital euro will help in the fight against illegal activity and will not create an undesirable impact on financial stability and monetary policy. CBDC will complement, but not replace, cash

CEO MicroStrategy advised ‘The Iron’ Mike Tyson about crypto investments

The former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson asked his followers on Twitter whether they would prefer BTC of ETH. In response, he received advice from the head of MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor. “Mike, I spent more than a thousand hours considering this question and chose bitcoin. So far, I have purchased $2.9 billion in BTC because I think it's the future of digital property,” ??? MicroStrategy said. CEO OKEx Jay Hao has given his response, publishing a mem-post that there is no need to choose if you have both in your pocks. The famous podcast host about the first cryptocurrency, Peter McCormack, jokingly asked Tyson what he would choose, comparing BTC to boxing and ETH to WWE.

AAVE is developing an analogue of Twitter based on the Ethereum blockchain

The developers of the DeFi protocol Aave are working on a Twitter analogue. It is planned that the social network will operate based on the Ethereum blockchain. The project may face green light even this year. According to AAVE CEO Stani Kulechov, users would have options to monetize their content. There is also a statement from the developer's team that the new project would solve some pressing issues of social networks. For example, AAVE wants to exclude any censoring issues. On the other hand, the Block analyst Larry Chermak believes that a social network based on ETH is a dead born project. The analyst insists that the ETH blockchain would be just overloaded without any chance. Besides, Chermak points every social network needs to be censored. Otherwise, it might become a place for posting forbidden and illegal content.

Crypto platform Anchorage stated how large investors reacted to the fall of the crypto market

The constant fall of the crypto market did not significantly impact the plans of the teams involved in projects in the crypto industry. Also, as the head of the Anchorage cryptobank Diogo Monica noted, large investors began to invest more in cryptocurrencies, including decentralized financial services. “They probably see [the current crypto market situation] as a great entry point if they are investors. For most of our clients, who are simply developing industry projects, nothing has changed,” Monica pointed. According to CEO Anchorage words, “there is no project which took a pause and got lowered priority due to any price changes in the market”. He also stated that many prominent investors are aiming at the investment vector from 10 to 20 years.

Rothschild’s are strengthening positions in BTC

Rothschild Investment Corp, which rules the main assets (total value is about $1 billion), has increased its investments in BTC. Starting from April 2021, the investments in BTC through Grayscale GBTC raised to 3 times. According to SEC, Rothschild Investment Corp owns 141’405 stocks Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. 5 months ago, during the active phase of the crypto rally, the total sum of company stocks was less than 39 thousand. The assets Rothschild Investment Corp are closely priced at $4,1 million. Besides, Rothschild Investment Corp has invested in Grayscale Ethereum Trust, buying 6’244 stocks. It seems the recent long-term falling of the whole crypto market does not affect Rothschild Investment Corp. top managers.

Anonymous wallets are under the surveillance of the EU

The European Commission has prepared a bill, which potentially would prohibit of using anonymous wallets. According to amendments to EU legislation, the companies may be forced to track personal information, for example, the user's name and address, about the senders of transfers and their addressees during any operations with digital assets. According to Viktor Pershikov, an analyst at 8848 Invest, such changes in legislation would affect the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges, exchangers and other companies working in this area. "Possible Deanonymization of private crypto transfers between users looks like an unrealistic task, only if they do not leave the so-called "Breadcrumbs" by which a wallet can be identified and tied to a particular person," Pershikov explained.

Crypto funds reject any cooperation with Binance exchange

Several cryptocurrency funds stopped working with Binance at once. According to mass media, this case is a direct consequence of international regulator’s complaints to the Binance. “Our mission is preventing clients from uncertainty, which is based on the idea of current tightening of screws by the financial authorities of many countries”, — notes Ed Hindi, co-founder of Tyr Capital crypto fund. According to CEO ARK Ulrik Lykke, all problems Binance faced are the “wake-up call for all players with large holdings on the Binance exchange. Previously, regulators in Singapore, Thailand and the Cayman Islands initiated an audit of the legality of Binance's operations in these countries. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has stated that the Binance Group entities are not licensed. In addition, Barclays and Santander UK have suspended operations with the crypto platform.

Anonymous Source: Amazon may start accepting Bitcoins by the end of 2021

The media, citing an anonymous source, posts that Amazon will add support for payments to BTC. This could happen as early as the end of 2021. “This isn’t just going through the motions to set up cryptocurrency payment solutions at some point in the future – this is a full-on, well-discussed, integral part of the future mechanism of how Amazon will work,” the source told City AM. According to its words, Amazon is on its way to add other popular digital currencies. The insider insists the initiative is going from Amazon's leadership, even from Jeff Bezos, and the whole project is on the final straight. “The next would be Ethereum, Cardano ? Bitcoin Cash, and right after that Amazon may add about 8 cryptocurrencies” — notes the source of City A.M. With the latest background about Amazon, a popular Twitter blogger with the nickname CryptoCobain wrote that it was him to deceive the "silly crypto-journalist" and became the source of rumours about its plans to accept payments in BTC. However, Amazon's interest in the cryptocurrency industry is evidenced by the recent post of a blockchain and digital currency specialist vacancy on the trading platform's website. The applicant for the position must have experience in the crypto sphere and the digital currencies of regulators.

Bobby Lee insists China is closing to full BTC dismissing

One of the first Chinese BTC enthusiasts, Bobby Lee, is confident that the Chinese authorities are able to increase pressure on the cryptocurrency industry and impose a complete ban on Bitcoin ownership. “The next thing they could do, the final straw, would be something like banning cryptocurrency altogether. When Bitcoin goes to $500,000, $1 million, China might ban Bitcoin altogether when people are no longer allowed to hold it,” — Bobby Lee said. On his opinion, such prohibition possibility spreads across the “50 on 50” scheme. Besides, Lee notes that the Chinese government would take such “unregulated and volatile assets” away from the citizen’s pockets to create financial stability.

For the first time, MasterCard would support cryptocurrency projects

MasterCard has started an updated Start Path program aimed to support crypto startups working with blockchain. The company has already chosen 7 startups from different countries. “One of our main goals is to arrive the future of cryptocurrency, so we do, connecting strong financial principles with innovations”, notes Jess Turner, Mastercard Executive Vice President, Digital Infrastructure and Fintech. The Start Path participants will get access to multiply tools and innovations of MasterCard for scaling their own innovative products. It also lets companies start mutual pilot projects with the worldwide payment system. Besides, the participants would retain their intellectual property rights.

A large investor predicts further BTC crushing

Mark Mobius, the founder of Mobius Capital Partners, believes any form of regulation would harm any furthers BTC developments. He notes, “the governments regain its pressure on the whole crypto industry”. That is why many projects appear right now until it is not too late to use possible opportunities, the investor believes. In his opinion, for now, BTC is held by two elephants, called a great sums infusion from and excitement around BTC, which is wrong compared with gold. “I'm hesitant to condemn it because so many people have faith in it. It's all a matter of belief and faith, rather than a strict interpretation of the numbers,” Mobius said, noting he is not investing in the cryptocurrency at this moment.

Chinese regulator will continue to pressure the cryptocurrency market

The People's Bank of China intends to continue to exert regulatory pressure on the digital currency trading industry. The bank came to such conclusions following a working conference of the structure, which was devoted to the results of the first 6 months and goals for the second half of 2021. The People’s Bank of China wants to tighten the regulation of Internet finance sites. In addition, the regulator intends to suppress illegal operations with cryptocurrencies. The People's Bank of China also plans to promote green digital asset transactions to minimize carbon emissions.

The U.S. official considers it necessary to accelerate the development of the local state cryptocurrency

Lael Brainard, who is on the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve, considers it necessary to speed up the process of creating a state digital currency. In her opinion, the country lags behind other states in the development of the digital dollar. “The dollar is very dominant in international payments, and if you have the other major jurisdictions in the world with a digital currency, a CBDC offering, and the U.S. doesn't have one, I just, I can't wrap my head around that. That just doesn't sound like a sustainable future to me.” Brainard said. The Fed spokesman believes that one of the key prerequisites for the digital dollar is the growing popularity of stablecoins. Brainard fears that the issuance of stable cryptocoins, which are controlled by individuals and companies, could provoke a "fragmentation of the payment system."

Jack Dorsey's fintech project invests in an installment service from Australia

Square, founded by Jack Dorsey, is gearing up to buy Afterpay, an Australian installment platform. In exchange for shares of the service, Square will pay in its own shares worth $29 billion. Afterpay offers the sale of goods in installments. The company operates in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In addition, the project brand operates in European countries under the Clearpay brand. The parties intend to carry out the deal in the first quarter of next year. After that, the service will be integrated by Dorsey into its own acquiring system and the Cash App Square mobile application

Bitcoin SV network suffers from 51% attack

Bitcoin SV suffered from a 51% attack, which resulted in criminals gaining control of the network. About one hundred blocks and 570 thousand cryptocurrency transactions were compromised. “BSV is going through a massive 51% attack. After an attempted attack yesterday, some serious hashing power was unleashed today at 11:46AM and attackers are succeeding. Over a dozen blocks are being reorgd & up to 3 versions of the chain being mined simultaneously across pools," CoinMetrics network data product manager Lucas Nuzzi wrote on Twitter. He also noted that there is no data yet on who was behind the attack. CoinMetrics is researching potential criminals in search of "traces of double spending on the stock exchange."

Rothschild Investment Fund invested in Aspen Digital crypto project

Jacob Rothschild's investment fund RIT has invested in the Hong Kong cryptocurrency project Aspen Digital. The company is developing a digital platform for wealthy investors to manage digital assets. RIT Capital Partners has become the lead investor for the $8.8 million round. Aspen Digital will focus on family funds and asset management companies operating in the European Union, Asia and the Middle East. The Hong Kong crypto project will offer consulting services to its clients. In addition, he will take control of compliance with local laws and will bear the operational risks of the counterparty.

US Senator criticizes US Congressional plan for expanded taxation of digital currencies

Pat Toomey, Senator from Pennsylvania, criticized the US Congress initiative to tax digital currencies. According to the politician, the proposals of the legislative body are “unrealizable”. The politician believes that Congress should not rush into "this hastily designed tax reporting regime for cryptocurrency, especially without fully understanding the implications." “Simply put, the text is unworkable. I plan to offer an amendment to fix it,”said Toomey. Senator's criticism was provoked by the definition of a broker. Toomey considered it too broad and noted that it could affect miners, whose activities should be regulated by different regulations. In addition, the politician pointed out the possible difficulties of non-custodial services in fulfilling the proposals of the US Congress.

Crypto enthusiasts are unhappy with US plans for expanded taxation of digital currencies

Jack Dorsey criticized the plans of the US authorities to introduce an extended taxation regime for digital currencies in the country. The founder of Twitter and Square is confident that the legislative initiative in its current form will hinder the development of innovations. “Forcing reporting rules on Americans who develop software and hardware, who mine and secure the network, or who run nodes to build resilience and efficiencies, is an impossible ask that will only drive development and operation of this critical technology outside the US, ” the entrepreneur said. Dorsey believes that the definition of "broker" within the industry should be narrowed down to platforms where cryptocurrencies are exchanged for fiat. Earlier, the creator of Coinbase Brian Armstrong called the situation related to the plans of the American authorities, "determining our future", and the amendment - "a disaster." He was joined by Tesla founder Elon Musk, who pointed out the absence of objective circumstances, because of which it would be worth adopting such hasty bills.

The expert said about "some kind of enthusiasm in the crypto market"

The price of the main cryptocurrency yesterday, August 8, for the first time since mid-May, rose above $45,000. Bitcoin is up 33% over the past month and 15% over the past seven days, according to data from Coinmarketcap. According to Nikita Soshnikov, head of the Alfacash cryptocurrency exchanger, the prerequisite for the growth of the digital asset market was not only the increased price of BTC, but also the successful London hard fork on the ETH network. The expert is confident that the advancement of Ethereum to protocol 2.0 allowed the altcoin to grow to $ 3'112. “I see an improvement in the emotional component, some kind of enthusiasm in the crypto market. Its participants are tired of the prolonged stagnation and the decline in quotations and are now showing an appetite for growth,” Soshnikov noted.

Alchemy Pay service to release cryptocurrency virtual card

Alchemy Pay, the solution provider for Binance's payment app, will release a virtual card with support for over 40 digital currencies. The card will be valid in all places where Visa and Mastercard are accepted. The company stressed that the owners of the virtual card will be able to link it to the Google Pay and PayPal wallets. Users will also be able to shop on platforms such as Amazon and eBay. The service has already launched beta testing of the project. At the end of 2021, or at the beginning of 2022, the developers want to present the map to the general public.

The hacker who hacked Poly Network declared his readiness to return the stolen funds

The hacker, who participated in the hacking of the Poly Network project and stealing $611 million, announced his readiness to return the stolen funds. This is how the hacker reacted to the request from the Poly Network team, in which they had asked the criminals to return the stolen assets. The founders of the project said that the hackers committed the largest theft in the history of DeFi, so the authorities of various states are initiating their prosecution. Afterwards, the attacker made a statement, embedding it in an ETH transaction, which he sent to himself. In another message, he wrote that he could not contact the Poly Network team and asked for a wallet address to return the stolen funds. As a result, representatives of the crypto project created three wallets. According to media reports, the hacker has already made the first payments in the amount of more than 1 million USDC. In addition, the attacker sent $1.1 million in BTCB token, $2 million in Shiba Inu and over $622,000 in FEI stablecoin. We would like to remind our readers that on August 10, there was the largest hack in the history of decentralized finance. The Poly Network team has publicly asked miners and cryptocurrency exchanges to blacklist tokens coming from the addresses of the thieves.

Cardano rises sharply amid the upcoming hard fork

Cardano's price has surged 11% between August 10 and August 11 to $1.77, according to data from Coinmarketcap. This happened against the background of the statement of the creator of the project, Charles Hoskinson, about the announcement of the launch date for smart contracts as part of the Alonzo Purple update. “We will know the final date based on the feedback we receive from exchanges, EMURGO and other partners who need to integrate,” Hoskinson said during a live broadcast on YouTube. The developers also claim that the hard fork will add smart contract functionality to the blockchain. Thanks to Alonzo Purple, it will be possible to create DeFi applications.

PayPal-related payment service added cashback in digital currencies

Now, credit cardholders who use Venmo's payment service can convert their monthly cashback to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. Interestingly, the service is owned by Paypal. According to its own data, Venmo's usual commissions for the purchase of digital currencies can vary from 0.5% to 2.3% of the total transaction amount, however, there is no commission under the new Cash Back to Crypto program. At the same time, according to the terms of the program, it will not be possible to withdraw the cryptocurrency to external wallets. “We are delighted to introduce this new level of interoperability on the Venmo platform by linking our Venmo credit card to cryptocurrencies. We provide our customers with another way to spend and manage their money with Venmo,” said Venmo General Manager Darrell Ash.

American billionaire says digital currencies are "a limited supply of nothing"

An investor and trader who rose to prominence after the mortgage crisis in 2008, John Paulson, sees digital currency as a bubble. In his opinion, the crypto market "will ultimately turn out to be useless." Paulson advised against investing in cryptocurrencies. “Cryptocurrencies are a bubble. I would describe them as a limited supply of nothing. So to the extent there’s more demand than the limited supply, the price would go up. But to the extent the demand falls, then the price would go down. There’s no intrinsic value to any of the cryptocurrencies except that there’s a limited amount,” said Paulson. Earlier, the chief investment strategist of Bank of America, Michael Hartnett, expressed the opinion that BTC is "the worst of the bubbles." According to him, the rapid rise in the bitcoin rate is the result of speculative mania.

Cream Finance project accused of exit scam

Representatives of the Cream Finance cryptocurrency project announced that the platform was hacked and funds were stolen. However, participants in the digital asset market believe that this could be an exit scam. This is the project's second attack this year. Cream Finance claims that hackers have compromised the platform's DeFi protocol security. According to preliminary data, criminals stole more than 418 thousand AMP tokens and 1.3 thousand ETH. Thus, there were stolen totaling $30 million of crypto assets. However, the well-known crypto blogger Mr. Whale is convinced that this is not the case. On his Twitter page, he called Cream Finance's announcement an excuse to cover up the exit scam.

Solana and Gnosis tokens rise in price

The cost of the native Solana token, according to CoinGecko data as of August 30, has risen above the $100 mark. Over the past 24 hours, the coin has risen in price by 4%. The price of another token - Gnosis - this morning made a sharp jump to $418, having risen in price by 42%. After that, the price of the crypto coin began to decline. Gnosis is currently priced at $355. Crypto industry participants associate the rise in the Gnosis rate with the launching of token trading on Binance. Altcoin is available in pairs with BTC, BNB, BUSD and USDT.

Analysts predict the growth of the Solana token

The price of the Solana token in 2021 has already increased 78 times, however, analysts believe that the value of the crypto coin will continue to grow. The Spartan Group believes that SOL will triple in price. "If $90B is the right valuation for $ADA, then $SOL is easily a 3X from here," Spartan Group analyst wrote on Twitter. Anonymous cryptanalyst Bluntz shared a similar point of view. He believes that according to technical analysis, the price of Solana is capable of reaching the $200 mark and even rising higher. Genesis Capital's head of digital assets and finance, Matt Ballensweig, is also confident that SOL will grow. He pointed to the rather modest capitalization of the token, even at today's prices.

ETH rises above $3,500

On September 1, the cost of Ethereum surpassed the $3,500 mark. This happened for the first time since the fall of the cryptocurrency in May this year. According to Coinmarketcap, ETH was worth $3,535. Over the past 7 days, the coin rate has grown by almost 13%. In early August of this year, the London hard fork took place on the ETH network, which changed the mechanism for calculating commissions for operations. A part of the reward for miners who received it for mining a block is now burned.

Solana CEO is confident that there are no bubbles in the cryptocurrency market today

Solana CEO Anatoly Yakovenko believes that currently there are no bubbles in the crypto market. It is noteworthy that the growth rate of the SOL rate is significantly higher than that of most digital currencies. Over the past month, Solana's price has tripled. Some crypto enthusiasts believe in the further growth of this token. “Now is a completely different time and it is not worth comparing the current situation with a bubble. In 2017, the bubble quickly inflated and quickly burst, but since then three years have passed and all this time people have been working, creating various solutions and projects. Now is the time when we have created the infrastructure so that new engineers and developers quickly “merge” into the ecosystem,” Yakovenko believes.

US Senator: cryptocurrencies are the new shadow banks

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren continues to criticize the crypto industry and urges regulators to take control of projects related to digital assets. This is stated in a series of public letters between Senator, SEC head Gary Gensler and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Warren previously called on Yellen for a "coordinated and consistent regulatory strategy to mitigate the growing risks that cryptocurrencies pose to the financial system." In her address, the senator pointed out that "some" digital currencies are very volatile, and the unpredictability of their rate movements can provoke financial instability. Warren is actively promoting the initiative to "ban the holding of cash deposits that provide stablecoins in the United States." She is confident that this could slow down the market boom and reduce interest in such assets. “Crypto is the new shadow bank. It provides many of the same services, but without the consumer protections or financial stability that back up the traditional system. It’s like spinning straw into gold,” Warren said.

Retail network Grupo Elektra will start accepting cryptocurrencies

Mexican entrepreneur and owner of Grupo Elektra retailer Ricardo Salinas Pliego made a statement that the retailer intends to add support for the Lightning Network to accept payments in BTC. According to the businessman, this will happen very soon. It is likely that in the future, other companies of the holding will add support for the first crypto coin. Pliego has previously made statements in support of bitcoin. Last autumn, he announced that he had invested 10% of his own "liquid investment portfolio" in BTC.

Coinbase has a conflict with the SEC

The SEC has warned Coinbase about its readiness to take the project to court. The Securities and Exchange Commission considers it illegal for the crypto platform to launch the Lend service, which allows users to accrue interest on the digital assets of exchange clients, similar to securities. At the end of June this year, Coinbase announced the launch of a service for cryptocurrency owners who would like to make a profit in USDC. Lend service offers a rate of 4% per annum, which is 8 times the average rate for high yield savings accounts in the country. “They [the SEC] refuse to tell us why they think it's [the service] a security, and instead subpoena a bunch of records from us (we comply), demand testimony from our employees (we comply), and then tell us they will be suing us if we proceed to launch, with zero explanation as to why,” “They [the SEC] refuse to explain to us why they think that it [the service] is a security, and instead asked for documents (we provided), summoned our employees for questioning (we agreed), and then said that they would file court, if we continue to launch without explaining the reasons, " said Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. The new service of the crypto platform is a loan that the client provides to the exchange in the form of USDC. Coinbase believes the new product has similarities to bank savings accounts.

Ukrainian authorities legalize cryptocurrency

Today, on September 8, deputies of the Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada in the second reading approved the draft law "On virtual assets" aimed at regulating the digital assets industry. Now the owners of cryptocurrencies will be able to legally perform transactions with them, and international projects - to register a blockchain business on the territory of Ukraine. The law reflects the concept and legal status of a digital asset, as well as secures ownership and transaction rights. International crypto-exchanges, where virtual assets are traded, have the opportunity to work on the territory of Ukraine. “Cryptocurrency holders will receive a number of benefits. Due to the fact that legislative regulation of this area will appear, they, at least, will be able to protect their condition in virtual assets if something happens. They will also be able to legally exchange crypto assets, declare them. This process will be completely "white". In addition, we expect that there will be a whole market of intermediary services for paying for goods with cryptoassets, storing them, exchanging them. This will expand the possibilities of their use,” said Alexander Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for IT Development.

Hong Kong is considering tightening controls on the digital asset market

Hong Kong authorities are exploring the possibility of tightening control over the digital asset market. The new regulations should help close the loopholes for illegal cryptocurrency transactions that remained in the 2019 law. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) plans to take over the regulation of crypto assets and issue licenses to projects from this industry. According to the rules of 2019, in order to avoid the attention of the regulator, companies had to choose tokens for work that do not formally fall under the definition of "security" and "futures". Julia Lyng, deputy executive director of the structure, pointed to "significant losses for investors." In her opinion, "Hong Kong should put an end to unlicensed cryptocurrency trading and engage in financial literacy of investors."

Most South Korean crypto exchanges will cease operations

Most cryptocurrency platforms in South Korea will stop operating. We are talking about 40 out of about 60 exchanges. The reason behind it is non-compliance with FSC rules. The new requirements include compliance with the KYC mechanism together with partners, which are credit institutions. Banks do not seek to develop cooperation with trading platforms, which may attract additional attention of regulators. Crypto exchanges must be registered by September 24, but by September 17, companies are required to notify users of the likely closure if they fail to go through this procedure. Media reports that only 20 companies have complied with the regulations.

The damage to payment companies due to the introduction of Chivo into the financial system of El Salvador was estimated at $1 billion

The probable damage to payment companies due to the introduction of the Chivo BTC wallet into the financial system of El Salvador could amount to $1 billion. This opinion was expressed by the former top manager of the Liquid crypto exchange Mario Gomez Losada. According to IHS Markit, about 70% of Salvadorans receive bank transfers from abroad. About 60% of such transactions are carried out by payment systems. 38% are processed by credit companies. Payment service fees are sometimes quite high for international transactions. For example, a $100 transfer via Western Union from a US account to El Salvador reaches $5. “Remittances are an area where the status quo in our traditional financial system is terrible, with extraordinarily high fees levelled at populations that can ill afford them. It’s a worn-out Twitter saying, but bitcoin really does fix this,” said Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Management.

Warren again insists on the need to regulate the crypto market

The collapse of the crypto market and disruptions on the BTC exchanges indicate the need for regulation of this area by the SEC. This opinion was voiced by US Senator Elizabeth Warren. “In a matter of hours, the $400 billion in market value simply evaporated,” the senator said. The politician cited the example of a notional retail investor who lost his money when the market went down. According to her version, he could invest right before the collapse and then take his investments. However, crypto platforms like Coinbase were not available.

Crypto project raised $22.8 million

The dTrade crypto derivatives platform based on Polkadot raised $22.8 million. The participants in the transaction were Polychain and Alameda together with Hypersphere, DeFiance, CMS, Divergence, MGNR, Altonomy. The received financing is intended for lending to market makers (MM), who will provide liquidity to the exchange order books. Representatives of the project claim that they have already secured the support of "the largest MM in the crypto industry." “Market makers are market participants who place orders to buy and sell certain traded assets. MM provide efficient markets by allowing traders to smoothly open and close positions at near fair prices,” the statement said.

Cardano can rise in price several times due to a successful hard fork

The cost of Cardano can grow 3-5 times, says Nikita Soshnikov, CEO of Alfacash. He believes that more and more DeFi projects will appear on the network. This will have a positive effect on the liquidity flow. “It is difficult even to predict the timing of when such a leap is possible because it is not clear which projects will start working on the Cardano blockchain and how much they will be in demand by users,” the expert noted. He also suggested that Cardano has the potential to rise in price to $6. That is, the crypto coin can grow by 150% from the current levels.

Hackers attacked pNetwork project and stole $12.5 million worth of cryptocurrency

Unknown persons hacked pNetwork cross-chain platform. The team of the crypto project wrote about the loss of 277 bitcoins, which equals about $12.5 million. «We're sorry to inform the community that an attacker was able to leverage a bug in our codebase and attack pBTC on BSC, stealing 277 BTC (most of its collateral). The other bridges were not affected. All other funds in the pNetwork are safe,” wrote the pNetwork team. The project team also announced that vulnerabilities in the platform code have already been identified and work is underway to eliminate them. "The bridges will be restarted after they are secured," probably within hours, the company said. The pNetwork team published a message for hackers asking them to return the stolen assets for a reward of $1.5 million. However, it seems that the platform was hacked by "black" hackers who do not intend to return the stolen cryptocurrency.

Erdogan declared war on digital currencies

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes the country is at war with digital currencies. At the same time, Turkey supports blockchain technology and intends to become the center of its development, but the enthusiasm of local authorities does not extend to crypto assets. “We have a separate war, a separate fight against them. We would never lend support to [cryptocurrencies]. Because we will move forward with our own currency that has its own identity.” the Turkish President said. In April of this year, the Central Bank of Turkey introduced an official ban on cryptocurrency payments. This means that local businesses have lost the ability to conduct transactions involving digital assets. Among the reasons for such a radical decision were high volatility and the threat of crime.

Banks from the USA and Europe oppose the restrictions on working on the crypto market

The largest American and European banks, including JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank, are confident that the latest regulatory requirements limit the work of financial institutions on the crypto market. Earlier, it was decided that financial institutions that have digital assets must ensure their full backup. The initiative came from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision of the Bank for International Settlements. The committee believes that when banks invest in crypto assets, it is necessary to adhere to a "conservative approach", since digital currencies pose a possible threat to the financial stability of a credit institution. “We find the proposals in the consultation to be so overly conservative and simplistic that they, in effect, would preclude bank involvement in crypto asset markets,” the Global Financial Markets Association said in a letter to the Basel Committee. Banks believe that the new requirements are an attempt by regulators to stop or deprive financial institutions of any incentives to develop in new markets.

Mike Novogratz prefers to remain calm amid falling major crypto coins

Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratz said that he was "not nervous" about the short-term prospects of the digital asset market, until BTC fell below $ 40'000, and ETH - $ 2'800. “As long as those [levels] hold, I think the market is in good shape,” he said. The entrepreneur considers the fall of bitcoin on Monday, September 20, below the level of $43'000, a "healthy correction", which is caused by the market's concern about the decisions of American regulators and data on the probable default of the largest developer in China, Evergrande. Novogratz is confident that the fall in the rate of cryptocurrencies did not have a significant impact on institutional investors. “I see nothing but the interest and activity on the part of our clients and corporate investors,” added Novogratz.

ETH futures are more popular than BTC with institutional investors

JPMorgan said that Ethereum futures are trading at a premium due to the flow of institutional funds from similar assets based on the main cryptocurrency. BTC futures after the September correction are trading below the spot price of the crypto coin. Analysts say the whale's attention to ethereum futures speaks to "healthy demand for ethereum compared to bitcoin from institutional investors." These are large organizations such as corporations or hedge funds. "This is a setback for Bitcoin and a reflection of weak demand by institutional investors that tend to use regulated CME futures contracts to gain exposure to Bitcoin,” JPMorgan analysts commented on the "strong demand divergence".

Opinion: it is not profitable for regulators to “crush to death” the main crypto coin

The founder of Melanion Capital, Jad Comair, believes that it is simply not profitable for regulators to "crush to death" bitcoin. Thus, the entrepreneur expressed disagreement with the point of view of the head of Bridgewater Associates, Ray Dalio, who recently announced a potential threat to the first cryptocurrency. “I think overall that is a very extreme scenario and I do not see a developed country like the US or even all the G7 countries take such a harsh and strong step,” the CIO of Melanion Capital said. Comair said most governments want to regulate the digital asset industry in order to protect the interests of investors. And after the emergence of "adequate and correct regulation, we will see the full power of cryptocurrencies," says the crypto enthusiast.

Twitter launches bitcoin transfers

On Twitter, you can now make transfers in BTC. The functionality, for now, is available to owners of devices based on IOS. However, the company promises to provide a similar opportunity for Android users in the near future. The innovation will allow users of the social network to send donations in cryptocurrency to their favorite bloggers. They plan to carry out operations with bitcoins through the Lightning Network, with the help of which BTC payments will be faster and cheaper. In order to take advantage of the new functionality, you will need to connect a third-party service to your Twitter profile, for example, Venmo from PayPal, Patreon or CashApp. At the same time, the company does not plan to introduce additional fees for transactions in digital currency.